UNIT 4. NATURAL DISASTERSReading

Choose the correct word for each gap to complete the following text.

When a volcano eruptsblowsrises, hot gases and melted rock from deep within Earth find their way up to the surface. This material may flowburnleave slowly out of a crack in the ground, or it may explode suddenly into the air. Volcanic eruptions may be very destructivedestroydestruction. But they can alsoasso create new landforms. Of the nearly 1,900 volcanoes active today, or known to have been active in historicalhistoryhistorically times, about ninety per cent can be found in the areas of South America, North America, Asia, and Oceania that are close toatin the Pacific Ocean. When marked on a map of the world, this line of volcanoes looks a little like a vast, open circle. For this reasonconditionchance it is known as the ring of fire.